


See to Believe

by the_rainbow_jen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Frottage, M/M, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-07
Updated: 2007-08-07
Packaged: 2019-10-04 06:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17299619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_rainbow_jen/pseuds/the_rainbow_jen
Summary: Regulus is used to being watched. But he doesn’t always know what is being seen.





	See to Believe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DianaMoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaMoon/gifts).



> request: Severus/Regulus; ansgsty fluff? XD, Regulus seducing Severus, character driven, or something during/after a death eater meeting  
> A/N: I started this pre-DH, but I think it's fairly compliant with canon. I hope you like it!
> 
> Beta-ed by katshakespeare
> 
> Written for the ME_RSE Exchange in 2007 on LJ, archived here without any changes to original story.

Reg was an eye person. in that he caught eyes, whether on purpose or by accident. He could feel people watching him. It came from being a watcher himself. He could tell who was doing the watching based on how it felt. He’d get a pinprick sensation up his back when Amelia Bones was demanding his attention. Or a dagger sensation when Evan Rosier caught Amelia looking at him, try though he might to convince them both to watch each other and leave him out of it. But his favorite was the caressing gaze, the ones like silk sending shivers down his spine. He never could catch the person doing it.   
  
He thought about it, though. He’d lay in bed at night, imaging a nameless faceless person watching him as he wanked, imagined that he’d lure them close enough to hear their ragged breathing, and he’d draw it out, lingering touches on his own body until they pushed aside his bed curtains and finish the job. He rarely wondered if it was a male or female. He’d take either option.  
  
Amelia tried to approach him after study hall, only to be interrupted by Severus Snape’s approach, and snide voice saying, “Really, Regulus, must you keep slumming? Leave the Hufflepuffs for Rosier.” As she spluttered and whirled off, Regulus snickered.  
  
“Well done. One would almost think you cared.” He drawled, giving Severus a sideways glance. Severus looked straight ahead as they made their way to Arithmancy and Charms, respectively.  
  
“It’s distracting to have them fawn all over you, hanging about the entrance portrait.” Severus’s tone was a bit annoyed, but that wasn’t unexpected. The only time he wasn’t annoyed was when he was asleep.

“Can’t help it if they’re too stupid to realize you can’t reform the unrepentant.” Regulus entered the classroom, taking his seat in the back. Regulus had decided to kiss her during rounds to shut her up (since hitting female students was frowned upon), and she’d practically combusted in his arms. Now, she seemed to feel like she owned him, and was trying to convince him his pureblooded ideas were bosh.  
   
He ignored her. He’d gotten good at tuning people out. It bordered on rude, but if he was going to be the heir of the Black Family, he might as well get something out of it. She could screech at him all she liked during their next set of rounds; he’d just shag her silent. It was a vicious cycle, and one that never grew old for him, but which had broken many of the Hufflepuff females. She was no different.  
   
A small piece of paper wafted over to his desk in Arithmancy. He opened it.  _You waste your time with them when you should be focused on your future._  He turned, and saw Severus standing in the doorway. As their eyes met, a frisson of something crept across Regulus’s skin, and he nodded. Severus turned and left for his class.  
   
Regulus stared, unseeing, at the front where Vector was trying to illustrate the numerological significance of one’s Natal Day. The codification of magic, as they were currently studying, absorbed him for hours at a time. He took out his notebook, and began doodling a new encryption in the margin. He’d use that to translate his homework. See if Vector would be able to figure it out. His thoughts wandered to the sensation Severus’s gaze had arisen in him. Of all the eyes that had watched him, Severus’s went unnoticed.  
  
*

Regulus staggered sideways, kept upright by leaning into Severus’s lanky frame. He felt woozy, not unlike being drunk, though he thought the consumption of alcohol would be vastly preferable to the ache in his forearm. He’d done it. He’d cemented his future, and the honor of the Black Family in the new world order Lord Voldemort was going to establish. He was almost giddy, except he’d not counted on the pain. He stumbled again, this time sprawling sideways on the ground. 

Severus stood swaying over him, his expression making Regulus snicker, then laugh outright when Severus’s attempt to drag Regulus to his feet landed him on the ground next to him. He turned to look, still chuckling with mirth, and saw Severus face close to his. His gaze, normally hooded, was penetrating, and Reg felt his eyes to the tips of his toes, and other body parts.

“Sev-”, he began, only to jerk at the sound of their compatriots making their way back to Hogwarts. Rosier and Avery had the foresight to bring a bottle of whiskey to numb themselves to the burn of the Dark Mark. Avery hollered at Regulus and Severus where they lay, “Get up, you two! If Dumbledore suspects what we’ve been up to, he’ll have our arses! And not in a good way!” Rosier began giggling at that, and they stumbled on, starting to sing a song about Vampires and Veelas and longhaired sheep. 

Regulus lurched back to his feet, offering his tattooed arm to Severus, who grabbed him by the forearm as he was pulled up. They both hissed at the rough grip on tender flesh, and released each other quickly. Regulus snuck a glance at Severus, who seemed oddly absorbed in his mark, tracing it lightly with his fingertips. Regulus reached out a finger to trace Severus’s mark, lightning quick, his wrist was caught. He met Severus’s gaze, and the silence around them thickened, becoming dense with meaning, until Severus looked away first, dropping Regulus’s hand and moving away up the path back to school. Regulus looked after him, thoughtful, as he gently traced his fingertips over the blackened flesh in his forearm, feeling a tingle bordering on pain at his own touch. 

* 

His trunk was packed and on its way to the station, his dress robes pressed and impeccable as always, and his exams finished. He was the epitome of a pureblooded male in his prime. He had a future ahead of him; his father was going to start handing over some of the Black family business interests. His mother was conspiring with his aunt to find him a suitable match, which he’d resigned himself to. Yes, things were progressing nicely. Yet he still felt restless. He fussed a little while longer with is appearance until he heard Severus’s voice intone, “I hardly think you need to worry about impressing your peers. They’ll be busy getting out of their robes, and sneer at your efforts.”

Meeting his eyes in the mirror, Regulus replied, “They are uncultured and boorish. I won’t sink to their level just because they’ve no pride in their heritage, or no heritage to have pride in.” Turning to face him directly, Regulus continued, a bit hesitantly, “I thought you’d have gone with the rest of the seventh years. Or at least be apparating from Hogsmeade.” 

“I will. I feel… no rush to get home.” Severus’s eyes skimmed over Regulus, and the gaze finally was penetrating his skin deep enough that Regulus caught his breath. It felt delicious. He remained where he was, however, and after the pregnant pause, moved to exit the dormitory. He’d taken two steps when Severus’s hand caught his wrist. His marked wrist. It wasn’t quite a caress, as Severus counted gentleness as a sign of weakness, instead of power. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Lord Voldemort was marshalling their numbers, and planning something to get the attention of the wizarding world. He planned to show them that once and for all, purebloods would not allow the taint in their society. 

* 

Silence stretched across the grass. It thickened with the fog, and hung heavy as moisture on the air. Regulus could taste anticipation like a fine wine, clouding his senses. It enveloped him, pulsing along his arms and legs, pooling in his groin and making the skin of his tattoo prickle with sensation. 

He met Severus’s eyes, eyes that had been intent on him the entire time they’d been before the Dark Lord. He’d not dared to look back and see Severus, who was hanging back, but pressed forward, joining Bellatrix, Lucius and Barty Jr. in the front line. He’d his family honor to represent, and his worth to prove. Severus’s eyes were practically burning a hole in the back of his head, and when they’d been dismissed, Regulus had grabbed hold of him and dragged him further into the woods, away from the others making their way home. 

“Just what were you trying to do back there?” He hissed, glaring at Severus, whose gaze was unfathomable. “You realize what your distraction nearly cost me?” 

“Not as much as it’s going to cost you.” 

“Just what the bloody hell does that mean?” 

“Don’t tell me you don’t know.” Severus’s lips curved in a slow, mocking smile. “Thought you were smarter than that. Seems I was wrong.” 

Regulus, incensed, had pushed Severus up against a tree, snarling, “All I know is you keep looking at me and it’s making me-” 

“What?” Severus cut in, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. “What’s it making you do? Making you feel?” 

Regulus couldn’t find the words. And so the silence stretched around them, rustling the leaves, nudging Severus’s lank hair, condensing the space between them, until Regulus snapped. 

He crushed his mouth to Severus’s. He felt lightheaded, dizzy almost, and moaned a bit at the sensation. Severus moved then, reaching out to hold Regulus’s mouth in place while Severus began to duel with him, lips scraping over skin, teeth bumping. Regulus flailed his arms, seeking purchase, one landing on Severus’s bicep, the other on his waist. Regulus leaned in, feeling Severus’s bony chest through his thin robes, and shivered. 

Severus began backing up, taking them away from the path, deeper into seclusion. Regulus frankly didn’t care, so long as he kept making him feel like that. Like silk on his skin, catching on rough patches, tightening his nipples, making him moan. Branches scraped through his hair as they made their way into a thicket, just enough room for one person to lie on the ground. 

Severus broke off, watching Regulus with the steady, intent, and heavy-lidded gaze that had driven him to distraction earlier in the evening. Reg felt a thrill up his spine, and hooked his foot behind Severus’s, knocking him flat on his back. Reg dropped to his knees, maintaining eye contact with Severus. They were both breathing hard, and Severus’s mouth was quirked a bit, as if in amusement, but for the life of him, Regulus couldn’t figure out why. Severus propped himself on his arms, looking challengingly at Regulus. 

“Well.” Severus drawled, looking at Regulus. “Now what are you going to do? Finish what you started?” His eyes glittered, and Regulus hesitated for a moment, but when his mouth morphed into a sneer, Regulus leaned forward, and kissed him again. It was different from kissing a girl- they always seemed to want to suck his face off. Severus was almost passive, letting Regulus do all the work. Just when it began to annoy Regulus, Severus laid back, and broke the kiss. He grasped Regulus’s tie, and pulled him over him, so that Regulus had to put his hands on either side of Severus’s head to keep himself steady. Regulus could feel Severus’s breath on him. He boldly swept into Severus’s mouth, learning the textures and tastes (who would have thought he ate Sherbert Lemons?), while his hands were busy at his belt, dawdling over the bulge there enough that Severus bucked, dislodging him. 

Regulus found himself beneath Severus, whose curtain of hair limited his view to dark eyes, large nose, and thin lips that were twisted into a mockery of a smile. Rather than allow him to make more snide rejoinders, Regulus pulled him down, his kisses gaining intensity as he practically bit at Severus’s lips. Severus remained balanced over him, not unfastening clothes, and Regulus grew so frustrated that he arched his hips, trying to gain at least a little friction to bring a satisfactory end to things. 

Finally, Severus moved one of his hands to rest squarely on Regulus’s erection. Regulus sighed, and thrust his hips upward, using his own movement to rub himself against Severus’s hand. It didn’t take long for him to need more, and he reached down, clamping his hand on Severus’s, curling the long elegant fingers around him more fully, and after a few thrusts, Regulus gave a choked cry. He relaxed, breathing deeply, and made eye contact with Severus, who looked as unfathomable as before. 

“Should I-” Regulus started, and Severus shook his head once, sharply, in the negative. Regulus shifted uneasily, and finally blurted, “Why then?” 

Severus slowly moved off Regulus, not breaking his gaze, and finally said, “I needed to know if you trust me.” He seemed to want to say more, but lapsed into silence. 

Reg scrambled to a sitting position, retrieving his wand and muttering a quick cleaning charm for the mess he’d made in the front of his pants. “You could have just asked.” 

“No, I couldn’t.” Severus tucked a lank strand of hair behind an ear. “My Master insists I prove it.” 

Regulus tensed. He’d forgotten who they served. The Dark Lord wouldn’t look too kindly on their assignation. “What will you tell him?”

Severus stood, dusting himself off. “Nothing. It’s not relevant to my mission. Just-   There’s darker magic being used than he’s telling you.” He looked for a long moment at Regulus, before turning and pushing his way past the branches. 

Regulus watched him for a long moment. If it had been anyone else, it would have been a warning, but coming from Severus, it was a clue. To what, he didn’t know, but he bloody well would find out. He wanted to see Severus’s eyes upon him, and to feel their approval. He bloody well craved it. 

* 

The next time Regulus felt Severus watching him, they were facing each other across an expanse wider than the space between their bodies. Regulus, wary of the wand trained on him, blurted, “I’m going to stop him.” 

There was a flicker in Severus’s eye.  “Really?”  His wand didn’t waver, but he relaxed minutely, and Regulus was able to breathe easier.  
  
“Yes. On my honor as a Black.” Regulus stood firm, trying to tell Severus with his eyes all that he couldn’t say aloud. That he’d seen too late the cost of an ideal. That he’d wanted a future where he could meet Severus’s gaze, and not see so many shadows. That he’d looked for answers in everyone else’s eyes, but hadn’t been able to meet his own in the mirror for years. 

Severus dropped his wand abruptly. He turned and began walking away from Regulus, who called, “Don’t you believe me?” Severus stopped, and quietly said, “You’ll show me.” 

Regulus nodded. That he would. Severus trusted him to follow through, and he wouldn’t let him down.


End file.
